While EA's Madden series has enjoyed a monopoly over the NFL license for over …

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Since 2005, it's been pretty rough going for football video games that aren't made by EA. Ever since EA inked an exclusive deal with the NFL for its Madden franchise, other football games have come and gone, failing to gain much traction without the NFL license. But just in time for the 2010 season, Quickhit Football, a free-to-play browser-based game, has announced a deal with the NFL that will allow it to utilize what Quickhit founder and CEO Jeffrey Anderson describes as "the single most valuable intellectual property in North America."

Launched in October of last year, Quickhit is a microtransaction and ad-supported game that's more about managing your club than it is about actually playing. You call the plays and improve your team by earning coaching points. Anderson—former CEO of The Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine Inc.—likens the game to an RPG. "My team is my avatar," he told Ars, explaining that your team's offense essentially plays the role of a sword in a traditional MMORPG, while your defense is your shield. You earn experience and assign skill points to your players. It's a set-up that has worked thus far, garnering Quickhit over one million players in its first few months.

And while the game will remain largely unchanged, Anderson believes that the acquisition of the NFL license will strengthen the experience that Quickhit already offers. Currently players can create their own team, choosing from a selection of fictional team logos, names, and colors. With the new deal, this will expand to allow users to choose the uniforms and logos of their favorite NFL team. Additionally, you'll be able to choose plays that correspond to your favorite team's style of play. And it looks like the use of the NFL license will be expanded in the future as well.

"It (the NFL license) gives fans new opportunities to interact with the NFL," Anderson told Ars. The game already features a number of former NFL legends—including Barry Sanders and Andre Reed—but Anderson said that the new deal could see Quickhit delving further into the league's history, possibly even allowing fans to replay classic Superbowls.

Of course, the big question is how exactly Quickhit managed to sign a deal with the NFL, when EA's exclusive deal isn't set to expire until 2013. Unfortunately, not being partial to the specifics of EA's deal, Anderson was unable to answer any questions related to the matter. But the deal does put Quickhit in an interesting position, making it the only officially licensed football game available on the PC, with EA having dropped support for the PC version of Madden back in 2008.

The 2010 NFL season kicks off this September, which will also mark the debut of the NFL in Quickhit.